The Starblade Ranger
by NobodyCared
Summary: Will ends up in the world of The Starblade/Wardstone Chronicles. Accompanied by Tom, his apprentice, and his ally Grimalkin. Their mission is to get defeat the kobalos, a mysterious group of creatures that are terrorizing the county. Will they be successful, and can Will return to his homeland?
1. A Strange World

All I could hear was the sound of the air forcing itself on me, and the sound of Tug's hooves slamming into the ground below me.

A bonfire was lit a few kilometers away from me, our enemy was located there. Araluen is in the midst of a raging war between a fairly new country, Imperi. They've seized control of Skandia's (one of our strongest allys) southern border countries, Alpina and Magyara. They were spreading into Gallica quickly, had we done nothing. They would have seized control of Gallica too. The Imperi once had control of Alpina long ago, at the time it was known as Pacem. However, the struggles of keeping the country intact were too much. The country fell apart and was conquered by Alpina.

My name is Will, I'm a young ranger that was sent thousands of kilometers away from home into Gallica. Accompanied by my master Halt, I was sent to discover information on this possible threat. Halt and I dismounted from Tug and Abelard and sneaked off into the trees and bushes. Slowly approaching the sparks and smoke in the distance. What we found was a large campsite with small wooden buildings and tents. Four watchtowers were on all corners of the camp. And four archers with crossbows that looked bored out of their minds. Halt and I went over every single detail in the plan about a thousand times during our trip over here. I snuck over to the camp, and for a brief moment. The archer looked over in my direction. I froze, not daring to make a single movement. I could hear Halt's words in my head; 'Trust the cloak.' After a few moments the archer looked away. I snuck into the camp undetected, and removed my cloak. I blended in pretty well with the people that were forced to clean around the camp.

But, all of the sudden. My attention was directed at this strange looking being. And when I noticed this being, things started to feel very wrong. I couldn't move, my heart was pounding in my chest. This being turned to me, and what I saw was horrifying. It was a completely red skinned man, with a horrific face. He wore a long thick and brown trench coat. And had a long tail behind him. The being gave me an unpleasant grin, revealing the sharp teeth hidden in his mouth. I was starting to feel really nauseous. A huge lurch of fear entered me when he started walking towards me. I was unable to move, unable to grab my saxe knife. All I could to was sit there while this being approached me. But then this being started to talk to me. It was almost like he was talking inside my head, his lips weren't moving or anything. "You're here to collect information on us." the being said. I was filled with fear and confusion with that sentence. How could he possibly know what I was doing and why I was here. The next thing I remembered was a fast movement from the creature. And a sharp pain near my heart. Everything went to blackness after that one fatal movement. I felt nothing, nothing existed. Just darkness ahead and nobody around. I was sure I died that day.

But suddenly, I awoke. My vision was slowly coming back to me, I groaned. My body was filled with pain. I looked around, I was in a very unfamiliar room. I looked at my chest, there wasn't a wound or anything. I could have sworn that creature stabbed me. I heard the doorknob being twisted and the sound of the door being opened. A boy around my age stepped into the room. "Oh good. you're up." he said to me. "Breakfast is downstairs, you'll need something to eat to get your strength up." as anyone would, I asked him the obvious question; "Wait, where am I? And who are you?" He smiled, it was a welcoming smile. "I'm Tom Ward the Chipenden spook, and you're in Chipenden. I found you a few kilometers from here, you looked half dead." Tom replied. Chipenden must have been a city or a small town in this country. I didn't know much about it, so I didn't question it. The only thing on my mind was breakfast.

I walked down the steps with Tom and saw the dining room. It was a neat and tidy looking room, a fire was lit next to the dining table. There was a girl that looked about fourteen sitting near the fireplace. "Who's that?" I asked. "That's my apprentice, Jenny." Tom said. Apprentice? He looks around my age, and I'm still in my apprenticeship. "Yeah, I know. I look a little too young to have an apprentice, my master died in a battle a few months ago. And I took over at a young age." Tom replied. That reminded me of something, I forgot to introduce myself. "Oh, my name is Will Treaty by the way. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier." After that, we sat down at the table and started eating. "My compliments to the cook!" Tom shouted to nobody. 'I thought he was the one that cooked this.' I thought. 'Maybe there is somebody else here that cooks.' As soon as that thought crossed my mind, the table started to rumble. And a purring sound came from the walls. Confused and surprised, I looked around the room for what could have made that noise. "Oh yeah." Tom started. "Probably should have mentioned that I have a boggart that cooks and cleans." What did he just say? A boggart? Is that a pet or something? No, it can't be, what kind of pet cooks food and cleans a house? Tom must have noticed the confused look on my face because he then said, "Never heard of a boggart before?" I don't think a boggart even exists. But I just went along with it. "No, not really. I'm not from this country so I'm not sure." I said. "Boggarts live everywhere." Tom said. "What country are you from?" Boggarts live everywhere? I've never met anybody that's mentioned one or heard anything about them. And they certainly don't live in Araluen. "I come from Araluen. I said. Tom had a puzzled look on his face when I said that. "Araluen, never heard of that country." Araluen's only been around for about two-hundred years. I wouldn't be surprised if a handful of people haven't heard about it. We just all started to eat breakfast. I noticed that the girl kept glancing at me for a few moments. And whenever I looked over at her, she'd look away. It's almost like she was studying me. I tried to ignore it, but it kept bothering me. I didn't want to say anything because that'd be rude. So I just continued eating breakfast.

"By any chance did you find my weapons and cloak?" I asked. "Yes, they were pretty unique looking." Tom replied. "Two strange looking knives and a large bow." Great! So I didn't lose any of my equipment. "I'm gonna need those back before I return to my home country." I said. The girl that hasn't said anything this whole time actually said something. "You saw a haizda mage." Tom and I looked at her confused. "What?" I asked. Tom looked confused as well, but he didn't say anything. "I was trying to find out who you are, and where you came from during breakfast by the way." Wait, is that why she kept staring at me? And that doesn't make any sense, how is staring at somebody going to find out who that person is? "It's one of my gifts as a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter." Despite having no idea what she was talking about, she seemed to be pretty cheerful. Not what I expected.

There was a knock at the door. Tom said nothing, he just answered the door. A little odd I must admit. I saw the person that walked in the door. It was a woman, her face was pretty, but cruel at the same time. Her shirt had eight sheaths with blades inside them. It made me feel uneasy, there was just something about her that wasn't right. She smiled at me, a wave of fear went over me when I noticed her teeth. They were sharp, it reminded me of a wild animal. "This is Grimalkin." Tom said. Grimalkin? What a strange name. I nodded in reply. They all started talking. I didn't know what was going on, or what they were talking about. All I got from it was 'Haizdamage' and 'Information.' I didn't even know what a haizda mage was, nobody bothered to explain anything to me. I just sat there in confusion. The one thing I did remember was; "We're going to travel a long way, we're going on horseback. The journey will be at least three weeks." I didn't know if I was going on this journey or not, I'll just ask Tom if there was any way I can get home. Maybe I can buy a boat ride or something. A half hour of discussion, and Grimalkin left."


	2. Journey to the Kingdom

The journey there was long and difficult. I missed riding Tug, but as far as I knew. I might not see him again. I wonder if I'll ever return back to Araluen, and see all my friends. I've had to go through long journies as an apprentice ranger, but this one trip felt like an eternity. Just the never ending sound of hooves running on the ground felt so different. We only stopped for camp when the horses needed to stop. And this whole cycle went on for twenty-one days. Until we finally arrived at our destination.

It was a fancy looking kingdom. It reminded me of Castle Araluen. If only I was there right now. I thought to myself frowning. We arrived at what appeared to be an arena. The crowd was cheering all around us. Grimalkin's plan was to disguise Tom as a prince, she hasn't given us any more details than that. Which really bugged me. We had a perfect view of the arena. A handsome looking man stepped into the arena, he was wearing a silver suit of armor. He looked very confident that he was going to win. Then a familiar looking man stepped into the arena. A wave of fear went over me when I realized what he was. He looked exactly like the one that stabbed me. The same cruel eyes, the same coat, and the same red skin. I guess Jenny noticed that fear with the _"gift"_ she was talking about, because she was looking at me.

The man in the silver armor unsheathed his sword, it was a fancy looking sword. It looked like it was crafted by a master. The creature on the other hand just pulled out two simple looking blades. I sensed a lot of confidence in the man in the silver armor. They then started to fight. Swords clashing against each other, the sound of metal hitting against metal filled the arena. Every strike the armored knight made, the creature followed. But the knight was not winning, he was struggling to keep up. It felt like the creature gained speed during every moment that occurred. He swung repeatedly with the same skill and accuracy in every strike. While the armored knight desperately blocked. This pattern continued over and over again. That one sword clumsily meeting with the two blades. The creature in the trench coat looked very confident, the knight on the other hand, was losing his confidence fast. It took only a few more seconds until disaster struck for the and surprise was written all over his face. He then fell over, and didn't move. The whole crowd went silent.


	3. Preparation

"You expect me to fight that monster!?" Tom asked purely out of anger and surprise. "Yes, I do," Grimalkin replied. "You should be able to defeat it," Tom muttered under his breath when Grimalkin said that. I didn't think Tom would have much of a chance against him, but I haven't seen him fight. So I can't be too sure. "He probably won't survive if you let him fight that thing," I said. "How would you know? You've only known the guy for a few weeks." Grimalkin said back. She did have a point. Like I said before, I haven't seen him fight. But I should be able to see him practice with Grimalkin. I am a little curious to see how skilled he is.

Seeing Grimalkin and Tom practicing was amazing, they both fought each other in a similar fighting style. Both of their blades swirled around in all kinds of directions. Almost looked like a dance, a dance of death I might add. It went on for a long time, I started to think Tom could fight like that forever. But then, disaster struck. When Tom was swirling his blade around he cut his arm. He screamed in agony. There was no way he could fight like that now. "Great! Who's going to fight the mage now!" Grimalkin screamed in frustration.

Grimalkin was really mad. She clearly must have been planning this for a while. While Grimalkin was yelling at Tom, I interrupted her. "I'll fight him." I felt like I owed Tom. He did save my life. And I'd probably be lying on the ground lost and confused. Grimalkin clearly didn't have any confidence in that idea. "There's no way you can win, I haven't even seen your fighting style." Grimalkin replied. "Well, it's time you do." I said.

We had a week of preparation time to train. I stepped into the arena. My throwing knife on one side of my belt, and my saxe knife on the other. And a weapon sheathed on my back that Tom called a starblade. I kept thinking of the fight between the creature and the knight. Is that how I'll feel in this fight? We rangers use our melee weapons as a last resort. Our main weapon is the longbow. But they won't allow me to use that. Then I saw my opponent, the haizda mage. Looking as horrific as he was the last time I saw him. I pulled the hood of my cloak up. We then unsheathed our weapons, it was me or him. One of us was going to die here. I had my throwing knife in one hand, and my saxe knife in the other. He had two small blades in each of his hands. The battle started then, it was now or never.


	4. Will vs The Haizda Mage

The battle between Will and the haizda mage was never ending. Will desperately shielded himself from the haizda mage's deadly attacks with both of his knives. The familiar metal clashing against metal sound came again. The haizda mage tried striking his finishing blow, the one he used to kill the armored knight on the last round. Will dodged it every time. The haizda mage's face was cut up and bruised. They were cuts all over his body. His trench coat was drenched with blood. Will's cloak was drenched with blood as well. His face was hidden due to his cloak. But I assume he was beaten up. Both of the two warriors desperately blocked each other's strokes. Finding any possible weakness. Whenever somebody got the upper hand, they would always lose it right after. This fight felt like an eternity, all that would ever happen was the sound of metal hitting each other. They never seemed to tire. Will threw one of his knives at the creature. But the creature dashed away from it. Now Will only had one blade in his hands. The haizda made saw the opportunity and went full speed on Will. Will was barely keeping up. Death coming close during every single move the haizda mage made. Will didn't have any time to draw out the starblade. If he did, he would die. The haizda was attacking him at every moment. Will was tiring, he was losing strength and energy. But then, just when Will was about to accept his death. He saw an opportunity. And kicked the haizda in the ribs. Giving him time to draw the starblade. He went in for the kill, but the haizda mage recovered fast. Will had the upper hand now, he was gaining confidence. Will stabbed his saxe knife into the Haizda mage's arm. Causing the creature to drop his blade. The haizda mage screamed in agony. The mage didn't seem to care that he was going to die, he was screaming out of frustration. That he lost, he failed his members. He died to this cloaked and hooded figure. His pride and honor was destroyed. Will stabbed the starblade into the haizda mage's heart. And the creature fell down, stone dead on the ground. While the crowd cheered and screamed out Will's name.


	5. The Failed Ambush

"I'm surprised he actually pulled it off." I heard a familiar sarcastic voice come from the room I was in. I awoke to see Grimalkin and Tom talking to each other in the front of the room. "Oh. He's up." I heard Tom say. "Alright, get prepared Will, we're leaving on horseback again," Grimalkin said. "What makes you think I'm coming with you?" I asked. "Because last time I checked," Grimalkin said being as sarcastic as possible. "Araluen isn't a real place." Before I could say anything back, Jenny walked into the room and told us that our horses were ready. So we set off. What choice did I have? I didn't even know where I was, or how I could get back. I'll just tag along with these three until I can find a way to get back to Araluen.

I decided to say something that was on my mind for a while. "Wait a minute guys," I started. "Why didn't Grimalkin fight the creature?" Grimalkin gave an evil grin. "Because you were begging to volunteer." Feeling annoyed, I slouched into my saddle. This is going to be a long ride, I thought to myself.

The sun was starting to set over the horizon. The once bright and sunny forest was now orange and dim. "We're going to set up camp here," Grimalkin said. "Will, you set up watch." Of course, she sends me to watch first, I would kill for a coffee right now.

They all had camp set up, sleeping soundly. While I had to torture myself to stay up to keep watch. It's strange, as a ranger. I've done this sort of thing millions of times in the past. But now all of the sudden it's like I've never done it before. I gazed into the star-filled sky above me, with the moon glowing light on the world. We didn't really have to set up a watch, but it's always good to be prepared. We're in unknown territory, there could be kobalos around targeting us.

Hiding in the bushes, looking up into the sky. I waited for my turn to be over. But I heard what nobody on watch wants to hear. Movement, somebody was moving through the bushes to our camp. Longbow in one hand, arrow in the other. I scanned the area for any detectable movement. I saw the kobalos moving a few hundred meters away. There were three of them, I'd have to take them all out fast. I took a deep breath. I fired the arrows at them. Three arrows came at the kobalos, lightning fast. Each one of those arrows met their target. They all fell silently. There could have been more of them lurking the darkness, so I stayed alert. If there were more, they would assume that there was more than one archer. I just sat in silence patiently, waiting for my watch to end.


	6. The Supernatural Attacker

After the sudden ambush that occured at our camp, Grimalkin explained the reason the attack happen. It turns out, the creature I fought was a Shaiksa assassin.  
And once a fellow Shaiksa member has fallen due to death, other members of the brotherhood will hunt down the slayer, they won't stop until he's defeated. I'll be fighting these things until the day I die, or until we succeed in Grimalkin's plan. Isn't that a nice thought? I thought to myself sarcastically. We've been riding on horseback again for a while. It's only been half a day, but it feels like an eternity. I hope one day I'll be able to return to Araluen one day.

"Are we there yet!?" Jenny asks for the millionth time. "You keep asking? You won't get there at all!" Says Grimalkin, obviously getting more annoyed each time she asks.  
"But we've been riding forever!" Jenny complains again. "You're going to be lying down forever in a minute, now keep quiet!" After Grimalkin gave that threat, Jenny slouched back in her saddle in silence. I just sat there as the sun began to set over the horizon, filling the sky with orange and pink. After a while, nightfall came upon us.  
"Alright," Grimalkin stopped her horse and got off her saddle. "We'll set up camp here, but we can't risk falling asleep." It would be hard for anybody to not fall asleep after a nightmare of a ride like that. But we all understood. "After an attack like that, we have to keep our guard up, I'll take the first watch tonight." And with that said, Grimalkin walked into the trees infront of us. Disappearing into the shadows. We set up our tents, and got some rest.

I suddenly awoke. Damnit, I thought. I must have fell asleep by accident. But I swear, I heard a faint voice. It might have just been my mind playing tricks on me. But it sounded real. The sound gave me chills up my spine, and something felt wrong. All of my instincts were telling me danger. I checked on everybody after unzipping my tent,  
they looked well asleep. Wait, no. They shouldn't be asleep. Grimalkin told them not to rest. And as soon as I had that thought. There was this strange feeling in my mind,  
it was as if my mind was being controlled. It was telling me to go somewhere in the woods. I tried to resist it, it was almost as if something was pulling me. I broke free of it, trying to collect my thoughts. I ran to the others' tents to warn them about this. I zipped open there tents, but to make things even more disturbing. They weren't there.

What!? How is that possible? I swear I saw somebody in here a second ago!? They must have went to investigate, or maybe they couldn't resist the feeling! I have to go help them! I grabbed my bow and grabbed my sax knife, and then sprinted into the darkness. As a ranger, I have great skill in tracking. Even at night, I searched the footprints easily. Guided by the moon and starlight. But, out of the corner of my eye. I see some light, some unnatural light. It couldn't be from a lantern or anything like that,  
the light was plain white. Placing thoughts about the subject behind my mind, I sped through the forest, following the tracks left by my comrades. I don't know if it was instinct or something supernatural, but I had a feeling to duck down. I did this, and all of the sudden a blade flew right above me inches away from my head. I heard the impact of it slamming into a nearby tree. I could make out a figure of a person, or another creature. I lifted my bow up and fired an arrow, shooting lightning fast at the creature. That's what I rememered before something went wrong. 


	7. Uncertainty

CHAPTER 6

I shot that arrow with the perfect accuracy a ranger should have, but the arrow somehow deflected. I stared in disbelief for a moment, and then fired three arrows with the same speed and accuary as the last one. But it ended in the same result in the last one, increasing with frustration and panic. I shot another one, and once again. They flicked to the side, he wasn't moving or anything. The arrows just flew to the side of the shadow. It's almost like a forcefield was knocking them away. It would be foolish to fire another arrow at this thing. I remember unsheathing my throwing knife when I had a sharp pain in my chest, the last thing I remembered before I went unconcious was looking down. And what I saw will haunt me to this day, a curved blade was stabbed right through my chest. The front coming out of my back, blood spurring out. And everything went black, I was sure I died that day.  
But my eyes opened a few moments later, where was I? Looking around the place, I discovered something strange. I'm at the place where our battle took place?! How can this be? I was the one that was supposed to fight and beat the creature. But when I saw the challenger arrive at the arena, it wasn't me who was standing there. It was my comrade Tom. I just stared in disbelief, I was unable to talk to anybody. Unable to move, I could only gaze at the fight that was about to take place. Tom was lacking confidence, you could tell. He unsheathed the starblade while the undefeated Shaiksa assassin unsheathed his blade. It felt like history was repeating again, except I wasn't there. It was really strange. The battle took a similar pace as my own did, their blades striking endlessly. Both of them dripping in blood. But something happened that was different than mine. Tom won the battle, the crowd cheered when Tom defeated an undefeated champion. But then, the cheering stopped instantly. Staring at Tom, Jenny stared in shock and horror along with the rest of the crowd. Tom only realized it just at that moment, his expression was in disbelief and horor. The Shaiksa's curved blade went right through Tom's chest. He then fainted onto the arena floor. I stood there in confusion and shock, didn't that same thing happen to me?!  
And then once again, the area filled with blackness. Not a sound to be heard. And once again I awoke, not sure if I was in reality or not. Was this some kind of dream? Wait a minute, I'm in a tent. The same one I was in that night. I can move and talk this time. I heard a faint noise coming from the forest. This seems all too similar, did the world just hit a reset button or something? I decided to be more careful this time, using my ability of stealth. It's one of those things rangers have to master in their apprenticeships. Softly running quickly through the bushes, the wind and animals covering my sound. All of the sounds from the forest stopped, and chills started to go down my spine. The same thing that happened when I got close to that creature. I saw the same outline of that creature, but he hasn't noticed me. At least not yet. This time I'm going to change things. I silently unsheathed my throwing and saxe knife. And charged my knives into the creature, the creature was caught by surprise and shock. He fell onto the grass below, dead. I stood there, unsure of what to do next. My thoughts circling around in my head. I couldn't come to terms with the events that have recently happened. Unsure if anything that happened was real. I sheathed my weapons and turned to my camp. This is going to be a long trip. I thought to myself. 


	8. Talkus

After a trip that seemed like an eternity, we arrived at our next destination. It just looked like a small village, it was nothing like that castle we went in earlier.  
"There are tons of Kabolos in this town." Grimalkin said.  
"Huh?" I asked.  
"There was only one in the kingdom we were at earlier, but there are lots of them down there."  
"So why are we here exactly?" I asked.  
"In this particular town, they're going to attempt to summon their god Talkus." Grimalkin replied.  
"What, a god!?" I asked surprised.  
"Yes, they're going to summon him at night, so that's why we're going to foil their plans of summoning him."

I don't even know what would happen if this god did get summoned, I hope I don't find out either.  
"So how are we going to stop them from summoning their god?" I asked.  
"Well, we'll do it the old fashioned way!"  
The old fashioned way? She sighed.  
"We're just gonna ambush them."

The ambush wasn't anything complicated, I was just going to shoot arrows with my longbow in the back. While Tom and Grimalkin just charged in with their weapons.  
You'd think a skilled assassin would have a plan that was a lot more complicated. Grimalkin says she's discovered the location where the Kobalos will have their ritual. Lets just hope this isn't some random place where people are getting together. We were getting ready to go to our positions for the ambush when I heard Grimalkin yelling outside.  
"They know we're here!"  
"Get on your horses and go!"  
Confused and panicked I grabbed my things and sprinted to my horse, I saw my allies in the distance. But wait..  
Tom and Grimalkin are the only ones riding away.. Jenny's still back there! I went back to get her but our enemies were here. And Jenny was still in her tent!  
I lifted up my bow and shot multiple lightning fast arrows their way, each one of them hitting their targets, there was about a dozen left. They didn't have time to react multiple more arrows went flying their way. They were all panicking and running away. I shot more arrows in their direction and sprinted toward our tents. Jenny was sitting in her tent with a terrified look on her face.

"Come on!" I yelled.

We got on our horses and galloped in the direction of our comrades. The wind once again pushing against us. We rode for hours upon hours, but we never saw Grimalkin or Tom. The Kobolas are most definitely still searching for us, I just hope they weren't successful in summoning their god. How could they have known that we were there? Did they see us or something? No, we were a few kilomters away from their town, there's no way they could have seen us.  
We set up our tents, but I couldn't sleep that night. I kept getting a feeling that we would get ambushed by them again. Eventually, I did doze off. However, I didn't wake up in the morning. It was late at night. Not a good sign, I grabbed my bow and unzipped my tent. If there is anyone out there, they'll regret coming here. But there didn't seem to be anybody around. But all of the sudden, there was a loud explosion. And a cyan light filled the sky, it was like a huge beacon. I've never seen anything like it in my life. It was like a giant blue fireball shaped like a cylinder going up into the sky. There was only one thought on my mind of what this could be.

They summoned their god Talkus! 


	9. A Mysterious Being

My mind was only filled with cowardly thoughts. I was filled with absolute dread. I've never felt this kind of feeling before. It made me feel completely hopeless. These thoughts nagged in the back of my mind making me struggle with every step I take as a decision. Despite all of this, there was still a part of me that held onto hope. My plan was to find Grimalkin and Tom, and work it out from there. The obvious problem being, how will I manage finding them?

Jenny and I scanned the forest looking for any signs of tracks or possibly any attack signs. Jenny noticed I was in deep thought, staring off into the trees.

"Why are you just standing there?" she asked.

"Shouldn't we-"

Before Jenny could finish that question, I fired an arrow into the bushes behind her. The action was followed by a scream filled with pain. I shook my head in disappointment.

"Foolish bastard tried to ambush us." I said.

Jenny just stood there, looking stunned and confused.

"How did you know he was in there?" she asked surprised.

I turned over to her.

"How could I not?!" I exclaimed.

There's evidence all around you."

Jenny just looked around in confusion.

"Look behind you." I said

"One of his scales fell off behind you."

"And he was moving through the bushes like he wanted to get found!"

Jenny looked at me like I was completely insane.

"You're one of kind you know that?"

That was the last thing anyone said before I screamed in agony. It felt like I had just had my head slammed into a wall. I uncontrollably started to vomit on the ground beneath me. I hadn't realized what happened until I looked down. A curved Shaiksa blade was stabbed right through chest. It was the ambusher! How is that possible!? I killed him! The last thing that I saw before I fainted into nothingness was a horrified expression on Jenny's face.

I awoke.

"What? I'm alive?!"

What am I doing in my tent? I thought. I unzipped the tent and looked around. There wasn't a sound to be heard. No birds chirping, no insects, nothing. I did notice that Tug was standing there. That's odd. I thought. I called Tug over, but as soon as he did that, he took off into the bushes.

"Hey wait!"

I chased after Tug. Why is he disobeying me. Something fishy is going on. After that thought I heard something. It was music. Wonderful music. I couldn't resist walking towards it. Every thought and all control left me. All I cared about was this beautiful music. After a few moments of walking, it became apparent that I wasn't the only one who had followed this music. Several animals gathered around him. It was sort of chilling because they didn't seem to be moving at all. They were frozen, like statues. The source of the music was a young boy playing a flute. He wore a white shirt with grass-stained pants. Suddenly, the boy stopped playing. The animals fled off into the forest. After that, the boy stood up.

"I've been expecting you." the boy said.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am the old god Pan, and you my friend are in some serious trouble."


	10. Pan's Deal

"Trouble? What did I do?"

Despite Pan's appearance and obvious youth, he really felt like the type of person you wouldn't want to get on the bad side of. "What I'm saying is, you don't belong here!"

Believe me, I've noticed.

"Look, I know this isn't where I belong." I started.

"Truthfully, I'd much rather be in my homeland."

"A creature sent me away from all that I knew. And I ended up here."

Anger took over Pan's expression.

"By any chance do you know what type of creature did this to you?" Pan asked.

The tone of voice he used in that question made the situation a lot more unsettling.

"A kobalos?" I finally managed to say.

"Ugh! I knew it!" he roared furiously.

"Those pesky kobalos have been messing with us gods for far too long!"

"And now what do they do?! They bring some mortal from a different world here to mess up the timeline!?"

"This infuriates me!"

After having all of his blind fury erupted, he turned to me. It seemed that Pan was hatching an idea.

"Listen mortal, what do you say about a deal?"

"A deal?" I asked.

"Yes, you will help me rid of the kobalos. In exchange, I'll return you to your homeland." he said.

I can't believe it! I have a chance to return to Araluen! But still, there was a major issue that needed to be discussed.

"I am currently trying to put a stop to these kobalos with my allies, but the thing is, It's just impossible now." I said.

"Impossible? How?" he asked.

"There's no way to put a stop to them, they've summoned their god Talkus." I informed.

"Uh, pretty sure he hasn't." Pan replied.

What? Did I hear that correctly?

"Are you sure? Because I could have sworn I saw the whole thing." I said.

Pan shook his head in disappointment.

"Foolish mortal. That was obviously an illusion set up to misinform you." Pan said.

"If they had successfully summoned him I would most likely not be talking to you right now."

An illusion? Like smoke and mirrors? That sure as hell didn't seem like an illusion. It seemed more like sorcery. But that actually reminds me of Malcolm. People spread rumors about him being an evil sorcerer. But truthfully, Malcolm was a healer and illusionist who was really trying to defend his town by making an illusion of a "ghost knight" with mist and lights. So maybe that's the case here? It seemed unlikely. Another thought came to mind

"Hold on a second, aren't I dead? How can I fight kobalos if I'm dead?" I asked.

"Hmm. Well actually you're not dead." Pan said.

"Apparently you're being healed by a witch assassin for some reason God only knows."

Telling Pan how incredibly ironic that statement is would probably be a bad idea. But I see that Jenny must have reunited with Tom and Grimalkin.

"Anyhow..." Pan said.

"Do you accept or decline this offer? You can't remain in my realm that much longer because not many have survived in my realm for this long."

After a few moments of thinking, I answered;

"Yes."


	11. The Witch

"Good, that's what I like to hear, I'll send you back now." Pan said.

After those words, Pan formed his hand into a fist and prepared for a swing.

"Hey wai-!"

He didn't let me finish that comment, because he punched me right in the face.

I awoke again, in the familiar tent once again. Only this time my cloak and weapons were thrown at me.

"Good, you're finally up." Grimalkin said.

"Let's get going, hurry up and get the lead out!"

Could she at least let me get my head straight for a few moments? It doesn't exactly feel pleasant to be punched in the face by a god.

We were on the road once again.

"So where are we headed now?" I asked.

"Well, we don't really have many options." Tom replied.

"But Grimalkin does know somebody that could help us."

"Who does she know?" I asked.

"He's a kobalos that goes by the name 'Slither'." Grimalkin answered.

So we're asking a kobalos to fight his own people? How much sense does that make?

"How do you know that he'll be willing to help us?" I questioned.

"Especially since we're trying to kill them off?"

"The thing is, he doesn't know about our plans to do that." Grimalkin explained.

"I wouldn't even consider Slither an ally, he's more of a tool to gather information."

"For a trade of blood, he'll tell you anything you need to know."

"Kobalos will do anything for blood, once you get on their good side, you have them wrapped around your finger."

After Grimalkin's explanation, we trailed off in the direction of Slither's home for hours. Until we had to stop for camp. We felt like it'd be wise to avoid risking a fire tonight. But that meant our meal would just be cold dried beef and dried fruit. Sort of reminds me of my life as a ranger, I thought. After that thought, I sighed and headed to bed.

A noise from outside alerted me, it didn't sound like an animal. Wielding my longbow and having my sheathed saxe knife beside me, I crept through the woods searching for the possibly hostile intruder. I made out a silhouette. I raised my bow, preparing to fire. But something stopped me from shooting. The figure was wearing a cloak. Not just any cloak though. The silhouette belonged to my master, Halt.

"Halt!" I called.

"Where in the devil did you spring up from!?"

Strangely, he gave no response. Just stood there. It was at that moment that things started to feel very wrong. Chills were going up my spine. This... this isn't Halt... it can't be... After these thoughts came to me 'Halt's' original appearance vanished in what seemed like an instant. Standing in front of me was no doubt a witch. I reached foe my throwing knife. But I was unable to. No part of my body listened to me. They just stayed frozen, paralyzed in fear. One detail about the witch that you couldn't fail to notice was her nails. Razor sharp. Something tells me she won't be hesitant to use them. She was moving towards me slowly. But despite how slow she was moving, I could do nothing to defend myself. At only a few feet away from me she could kill me right now if she wanted. But before she could do or say anything, Tom's silver chain sprang into action nearly binding the witch. Unfortunately, before Tom could attempt the binding again, the witch vanished.

"Damn that Alice.." Tom muttered under his breath.

"One of these days she'll be in a pit and she knows it."

I stared at him not knowing what to say.

"Who the hell was that?" Were the best words I could come up with.

Tom spat on the ground after saying that.

"A best friend that betrayed me." he replied.


End file.
